mysherpa, miller metal, dozens are adding jobs as well. we are putting people back to work. we have a ways to go and we will focus on that. >> the answer is spent. 30,000 unemployed people in people have taken jobs and they're not using their educational background or their training. the food stamp number show how tough the economy is. 17% on food stamps. i'm glad we have unemployment programs and food stamp programs and i'm glad we have a number of companies that have come to delaware. we have not done enough. we have to much burdensome regulation. we still raised taxes during this recession which we drove back. personal income tax and we need to create a stable business environment.

we have not done a good enough job creating that environment and that is borne out by the numbers. >> where do you stand on your blueprint for delaware? >> we have implemented the majority of items in their and we have more to go. some of them we did not have the resources. i said we ought to create a delaware version of a cops bill. we have made progress there as well. it is not spin to the hundreds of workers were back at the refinery. it is not spin to the people who decided to expand in delaware. it is not spin to the folks at foxfire printing who are adding dozens of jobs. it is not spin to the people at jpmorgan chase. these are real jobs, real families being put back to work. >> fill free to offer your

opinion. >> 18,000 additional individuals who have dropped out of the work force, people who have taken part-time jobs, we can argue back and forth about the numbers but those people go to the polls and i will make a decision based on their own personal experience. >> >> you cited the number of people who earn their paychecks from the government. if you turn down the government are we exasperating the problem? >> we have made our economy depended on government. what we need to do to turn this economy around is trim down the drag of government and increase the entrepreneurship and the private sector and when you grow the -- >> do you mean term jobs? >> we need to hold the rate of

growth of government to no more than the rate of inflation. jack disagrees. >> we have done it. the average growth since i took office i is -- is 1.7%. we're going back to the administration were our state government headcount. the only administration going back all the way to the administration and it is not to layoffs, it has attrition. no other administration can say that. we will make a move in the right direction. >> we've seen the governor's rec. what about yours? can you tell us about how you were able to create jobs or how you managed? >> it is not the government's roll to create jobs. i have worked with large employers.

successful companies. most job start out with an unsuccessful -- oftentimes their problems. working at it honestly. we're out there spending, if we do not have an economic problem or job problem, everything is hunky dory. it cannot put solutions together. the first thing is an honest appraisal. almost every business or job was an opportunity because the person in that job was performing as well as they need to. >> there is one solution to create jobs which is to reduce -- it would lay off people. we have already reduced in the street and a half years the number of people in state government.

what are the choices? >> i traveled up and down the state and talk to people -- state employees and teachers. there are unhappy with their current situation. >> i need a quick answer to the question. >> people are working in state government and the often talk about waste and abuse and inefficiency. >> we're going to move on. >> social security and mental- health programs. some believe that individuals and groups are becoming too reliant on entitlements and we need to cut the federal and state budgets. when the private economy contracts, to make it worse.

there are needs for food stamps and unemployment. both of those are programs and expand as the economy goes down. it is necessary for the government to have the ability to do that. this issue about trimming entitlement is trimming those programs down as the economy grows and getting the people of a food stamps because of job opportunities. that is the key. the emphasis should be on growing those programs. the emphasis has to be on figuring out how to get -- cut government. >> hubert humphrey once said the greatness of a nation is measured on how we treat those in the dawn and dusk in shadow of life. we have dealt with the largest shortfall the state has ever seen. we were committed to making sure that we continue to invest in the things that would lead to

long-term prosperity. schools and economic development. we were committed to doing so in a way that was balanced. that was a shared sacrifice but we're committed to doing so in a week would continue to protect the most volatile in our society. i am proud we have been able to do that. >> there was your statement about the government. explain where you are going to pick and choose which entitlements your right to cut. you said that as the economy grows it will be time to start cutting. >> the litmus test is entitlements for people who need those. it is for the young and old. it is for those who cannot provide for themselves. the key to the unemployed is to get them employed. that is the private sector. it is a matter of faith. this country has grown since it was founded over two ordered years ago. it is at a free economy and the

ability of people to go out and build new businesses. >> you go to a business owner and ask them how -- what do i need to grow my business and what it will tell you is they do not need a government handout. the economic engine is the private sector. the private sector is growing. the government follows a long. but the back to mike castle. >> we're talking about a litmus test for what entitlements you'll keep and get rid of and fund more. what is your test? >> there is so much here that i would love to respond. so many of the entitlements are at the federal level. the important one here is medicaid. i believe it is in the best interest of the people of delaware to expand medicaid under the affordable care act. there are people who would be covered and we're getting a

higher reimbursement and the fact is those people did i get expanded he thinks we should not expand the population. they will go to the emergency department for treatment. giving people medicaid does not keep them out of the emergency room. they might end up there anyway. it is a matter of training and discussion and having an alternative for them to go. one of the reasons jack is excited about expanding the medicaid population is the federal government will pay for the bulk of it. we pay for that ultimately. that is an expansion of an entitlement program but the state government is riding along. >> on the medicaid peace, folks do not have coverage, the cost the rest of us. because of something called uncompensated care.

the go to the emergency part -- the emergency department. that cost the average family who has health insurance $1,000 a year. that is a fact. i think the idea of getting more people covered when the federal government is paying a higher reimbursement, that make sense. >> when the government reimburses hospitals and providers they pay 50 cents on the dollar. as you expand the number of people you are reducing the cost and that savings that comes from medicare or medicaid funding is because the government does not pay its fair share. it affects the reimbursement rate and creates more uncompensated care. >> we will agree to disagree and move on. >> there is the other stuff about the bike path. >> will come back to the bike paths. >> let's move on to the issue of crime. the police chief points to what he calls the revolving door of repeat offenders in and out of the city.

if you drive around they look like they are on the verge of becoming permanent badlands. this will erode any hope of the city's much promised and long talk about revitalization. we need drastic measures. >> let me give you what we're doing. first of all operation pressure point. states who are working with wellington police officers in the city. i have been out there with them, i have been at east 24th street. talk to the residence and they love seeing the people out of control. the state police working with probation and parole officers as well as use probation and parole officers. this is in the public safety area.

the attorney-general's office is making sure we have the right prosecution so folks stay behind bars. there also appearing in violation of probation hearings. that is a piece of it. there's no question that public safety is a piece of it. the other is some of the social issues. that is why we opened 10 community centers. kids have a place to go. we opened a curfew center to make sure that kids had a place to go. i believe some of the investments we're making in places like early childhood education will be huge because it will make it more likely that these kids have a better path forward. >> you have a rebuttal for one minute. >> i have been the victim of our robbery of -- our mccrary in 2006. an armed robber who was paroled robbed me at gunpoint. he is serving a life sentence for armed robbery for his second

offense. i understand how this issue works. i know that if that had occurred in green bill on the jack street it would have been responding to much more aggressively and much more seriously by the state. it is a matter of leadership and making it a priority. wilmington will not develop economically until we solve the problem with public safety. jack has talked about good things we have done. yalobusha-is when people feel safe and wilmington is somewhere that people would feel comfortable to go to. likely would feel comfortable walking around the campus. and to get there, we have not done enough. >> first of all it is offensive to think that you would suggest that we care less about one crime victim than another. let me finish. within days, ibm man being shot on east 24th street, i knocked on the door of his mother and i

talked to her. and when to where he was shot. i talked to dozens of people out on the street to talk to them about what they were looking for and how we can help. the new mayor has made it clear that this is a top priority for him and i look forward to working with him. >> at the end of the day when it comes down to is assessing the problem. if we cannot have a discussion about crime, we can have a discussion about being treated differently in greenville in wilmington, it is a fact. let's face it. >> is this profiling? >> no. it is not profiling at all. walking down the street is a different experience. the level of policing is different. i spent seven years with a store in wilmington. the level of crime that is

tolerated on the street is not tolerated in lake wilmington. if someone stood on the street being disorderly, that would be addressed immediately. it is not addressed. >> you have not laid out a single idea other than lower taxes. what would you do? i told you we have operation pressure point. >> you should be more aggressive with the city in getting their acquiescence or >> that reflects a lack of knowledge about the jurisdiction and the cooperation that is needed between the city and the state. we talked about the work the attorney-general's office is doing. you have a single idea? >> one of those parolees robbed me. we have to do a better job with

a minimum mandatory sentences. we have to keep the career criminals out and people who are identified in jail. this is -- there tough problems. -- they are tough problems. at the end of the day it is not an effective program. >> we will lower taxes, increase substance abuse. more police on the street. i would like to understand how this fits together and if you have any specific ideas and how you're going to pay for them? >> will pay by being more efficient. i know you are setting this up. you're not doing anything. being down there in wilmington i have experienced it first hand. you have not experienced it first hand. you come in with an entourage, -- >> you have lost faith in wilmington. i am going into the city, i worked 70 years in the city.

it sounds like you have lost face. >> i have breakfast in the city to or three times a week. i enjoy going down there but i am a six-foot five, two ordered 75 pound male. it can understand why women do not feel comfortable. >> is wilmington the most dangerous place in the state of delaware? >> i would not say the most dangerous. we have a huge percentage of population in the world in poverty. it is not just the city of wilmington. wilmington is much larger and more concentrated and easier to see that. >> we're moving on now. >> the next topic is about health care. there are about 118,000 persons roughly including 19,000 children in the state who are not covered by health insurance. how acceptable do you find this? do you have any idea for extending coverage? is this something you can tell

delawareans? >> one of the big issues is one we mandate minimum benefits, limit the cost much more expensive and we make health insurance more expensive and we cover less of the population. we should do is open up purchasing health insurance across state lines. delaware is one of least competitive insurance market places for health insurance. we have a worldwide market for our chicken product and a market for employment. we have a health insurance market that is not manufactured. it is manufactured in pennsylvania or maryland. that causes the problem and makes health insurance less affordable. we need to come up with policies, different solutions, streamlined policies to make it affordable. when we bring those people into the system and more people, there is more money flowing. the government creates a marketing balance. it does not pay 100 cents on

the dollar. it pays 50 cents on the dollar and increases and need for uncompensated care that drives up the cost of health insurance. what we need to do is get more people paying in a situation where they can pay for their own health care. there will be a segment that cannot pay for their own care. that is the government's roll. the folks that cannot pay, we can employ them. those of the people we need to have a private solution just like we do in all the other industries. there is nothing special about health care that we can, solve the problem with market forces. >> the main goal of the affordable care act was to address this issue about people accessing care. this is something across the country that we will address. the bigger issue is we have to move away from what has become the sick care system where providers get paid based on how many procedures they do and toward health care system where

providers get paid on how many people late keep well. i do not know how many -- if there is another industry where we have such a big disconnect. this idea of moving away from fee-for-service is something important. >> telling people to buy insurance across state lines, explain how easy or difficult this is. to governors have to agree, do state legislatures have to agree? how do you make something like this happen? >> i am not troubled by the fact of buying across state lines. i think that is certainly an idea. that is worth looking at. >> it is about empowering consumers. when the consumer know what care is going to cost, a few years

ago i was mowing my lawn and i injured my back. i was shocked at the cost of the care. i am in the health-care industry. there is not transparency. we are good consumers. the affordable care act moves us the wrong direction. >> should we legislate information? as long as the system is made good -- >> we do not legislate information purchasing. people are quite capable of making decisions for themselves. what happens in the health-care industry is it is complex and when you are sick and ill and lying on your back in a hospital you're not in the best position to negotiate price or care. >> or read a pamphlet or do whatever else. >> this is -- this is about educating people before they come in. the challenge is if people do

not have to pay for themselves. transparency is not sufficient. moving away from fee-for-service is an important part for that. we have celebrated the fifth anniversary. all the hospitals and long-term care facilities, most of the providers have signed up. if you go to a position and you have an x-ray down someplace else in the state, instead of having to get the film version of that, physicians or hospitals will be able to call that up online and there are a lot of efficiencies that will be created as a result of much better information change and that is positive. is this -- the first statewide information exchange. >> are there other states that might be doing it better we can model? >> one of the ironies here is that massachusetts is one of the states where if you are covered because of the data that mitt

romney created, the affordable care act that president obama pushed is modeled on that. a lot of states will be following that model. that is with the affordable care beds. it is a federal mandate. >> we're out of time and we will move to the next topic. i'm going to put this to you. beyond the governor's office there is a lot of chatter about longevity in this office should you win a second term. from -- should there be a shift in the congressional delegation? have been touted as a leader. it spoke of your party's convention. i know that your opponent has talked about a pledge. what i want to know because clearly if you are reelected you're a lame-duck. you have the four years and that

is it. what is your plan beyond the next four years? >> i love this job. we have significant work still to do and put people back to work to continue to improve schools. to improve the state all it can be. i cannot wait to get to work and spend every day with the next four years doing exactly that. beyond that i do not have plans. will we get to 2016 my wife and i who is out there somewhere, we will talk about what comes next. i am not thinking beyond that. this is one of those jobs. being governor is about -- the best job if you want to be in public service. they always say that the worst thing in delaware is better than the best day in washington and they're right. we work together here. we can get things done. what i want to do is focus on this job every day for the next four years to the best i can so we can continue to drive

delaware forward. >> that is the answer. i spent no time thinking about talking about what comes after 2016. >> i will give you a chance for your rebuttals. fifth you have deferred your bottle. let's get into the conversation. you have been critical of his role on the national scene. you also have been called the sacrificial lamb in the selection because your name as being at least in jeopardy of not earning re-election. your web site has not been updated much except for a call for interns in august 3 why is

your campaign somewhat tepid? is it because of a fracture was the republican party? >> there is a number of issues but it did not enter into a football game because you're guaranteed to wind. you enter because it is competition and both sides have to compete. delawareans deserve the choice in this election. we have different views. sometimes jack -- my view is different but having this discussion is important. elections are bad choices. we have an economic malaise. i am happy to keep on the role of being the opposition working with republican party, they have more registered voters and we do. jack caswell and more money with the power of incumbency.

the options are about giving people choices. >> when asked mrs. balance will about your relationship and we want to know if you're on the ticket? it is the republican ticket real in delaware? >> i think it is. we made that decision. we did not put her on the ticket for lieutenant governor because she was going to paris my ideas were she was a clone of me. she was an independent woman and she brought a different perspective and a different set of thought and background. we're both business owners, where both republicans. we believe in limited smaller government. >> we are at a disadvantage. running for office -- >> what me ask mr. markell's to get

involved here. >> i have appreciated the partnership with the lieutenant governor. he has been a spectacular lieutenant governor. he has been focused on small business and focused on making sure we do by -- right by kids. he has been focused on issue after issue. he has been a first-class partner and i am grateful we had the opportunity. >> why has there been so much discussion about you not filling out the four years? where's that coming from? >> i do not know. the republican party chair asked me to sign a pledge. i wake up every single day thinking about how we can put more delawareans back to work and how we can continue to improve schools. how we can improve the quality of life and i hope we bring back the bike paths. i think this is an important issue. >> we're in a global war for jobs. there are 3 billion people in the world looking for jobs.

their 1.2 million jobs available. we're in a global war for jobs. jobs -- we're in a global war. jobs are going to go where the talent is. talent is defined by the quality of schools and work force and by having a house -- nice outdoors to enjoy. mr. craig disagrees with the idea of spending. the private sector is not going to be investing. we want to make this a more attractive to people who are already here. people may look to come here from elsewhere. having something to do with your family, having nice outdoor spaces to enjoy, i am proud of that. >> this was his one minute or bottle. i need to shift things back over. >> bypass are exactly -- 152,000 people on food stamps. that is $30 million on ipods --

bike paths. serious gap.a african-americans make up 32% of high-school students but make up 45% of high-school dropouts. white students make up 50% of high-school students but 43% of high-school dropouts. surveys on engagement and encouragement and parental involvement from the perspective of students do not show much difference. can you reassure that students will get a high-quality education from delaware's public schools? >> i do not think we're giving african-americans a high-quality education and we need to do more to put emphasis on that so that all children are treated equally. i have two children who graduated from the brandywine school system. it is one third african-american

students. a large number are bused from the city to schools that are not neighborhood schools. it is difficult that parents to work in the evening do not have the opportunity to be as engaged. raciallybout segmenting schools. by moving the schools back in the city but we have to find a better way to engage the parents. remember when my children were young in the first and second grade. african-american students would come to school and filfalsely. their parents were night shift and wide to visit with their mom and dad and they would be lawyer be up late in the evening. they would wake them up to get on the bus. the school would shuffle them off to the nurse's office. it could have been white students. not necessarily african-american but students who are riding the bus to get to school.

we had a fight about reinstituting neighborhood schools and they were instituted where kids did not have to ride the bus as much. there's a lot of things we need to do for the students. >> arne duncan says education is the civil rights issue of our generation. as we narrow the the achievement gap went to raise the expectations of students. my wife and nine went all the way through the schools here. i'm more excited today. we came in first place to a half years ago in race to the top. it is one thing to win a competition and we're implementing it. we announced two months ago that for the school year 10,000 more kids were proficient in math

than the year before. >> i wanted to speak to the racial difference. >> the other investment we're making which will help african- american kids and -- is the significant commitment to the early childhood education. we will be increasing over the next five years the percentage of high needs kids who are involved in [indiscernible] there is evidence that shows the most effective economic development investment the state could make is in early childhood education. what we're saying is two things. the early childhood centers that were really good, it is not a financially responsible decision to -- we would have freincreasee

reimbursement. they have the financial wherewithal to make improvements. >> i just spent time at a seminar where the secretary of education discussed the goal of the department of education which is to graduate children from my school or work force ready or college ready. the percentage of children graduated was 47%. every kid who was meeting the goal of the state department of education, we have a child who is not. disproportionately, african- american students fall into the category of not college ready and not work force ready. early childhood education is important but it will not get through the system for 12 years. we need to look at expanding community college opportunities.

i do not know what it will cost. if we have to raise taxes, to attack the achievement gap for african-american students that is a pitch i can make as a republican who is anti taxes because it will add economic growth and pay back that will work for delawareans. i am not this offline left field taxes are bad and government services are good. i think we can do that. we can do -- to declare yourself and you can stay in high-school. you are awarded an associate of arts degree. what happens to children now go to del tech, the graduation rate is 7%. >> we're talking about high school dropouts. >> we will give you the last

word. >> though blasting a want to mention is we have a terrific program, jobs for delaware graduates. that exists in 32 states. 93% success rate keeping the most at risk kids in school to graduate. >> we are out of our questions and answer portion. we will move into the questions that come to us from students at the university of delaware and delaware state. the first question is gay marriage. >> it is a civil rights abuse to deny to people who love each other the right to get married. the bill came up how would you respond? >> first of all, i support it. four years ago in the state what i became governor, it was legal in delaware to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. we changed that and my first

months in office we change the bill to make it illegal. in spring of 2011 i signed a single union bill in front of 600 people and i asked the children of those same-sex couples to come up on the stage and explained that in large part i was signing the bill for them. so that they that in the eyes of the state, what they already knew, they were family, we knew there were family. the love they have from their parents is the love we recognize in the state. i support legalization of same- sex marriage, mr. craig does not. >> i think it is a religious issue, when we call it marriage to marriage is between one man and woman. we have a large segment that has religious beliefs and civil unions to the same thing as the connotation of marriage. we need to be respectful and

non-discriminatory that the religious connotation of marriage i respect and i believe we should have civil unions and a respectful people who wish to be joined to a civil unions were marriage should be a religious function and should not open up marriage to same-sex. >> our next question. >> drilling for natural gas has already begun in the upper delaware river. even though natural gas is a cleaner burning fuel there are environmental impacts. do you support hydraulic fracking for natural gas and are you proposing regulations are policy to protect the delaware river? >> i support fracking. a position -- my position is that fracking can be done

safely and there are tremendous economic advantages that come from a. natural gas is a clean -- the clinginess of the fossil fuels and a tremendous opportunity to lower energy costs to get america and energy independence. i want the caveat in there. we have to do it in environmentally sound ways and we have to trust and verify that trust. opposition is the same as and rendell -- ed rendell. >> this is not so much an ideological issue. a year ago when i had a vote on the delaware basin commission, i said i would not -- was not prepared to say yes. it did not proceed at that time. i think the more domestic energy we can produce is better. natural gas has some significant advantages. once you turn this faucet on,

you cannot turn it off. my view is the regulation, the reason i disagree, we have studied them and the regulations between pennsylvania and new york and other states were not consistent. with this has to be driven by the facts. should i become convinced we have sufficiently robust protections built in to make sure it is safe, i can see supporting it but i am not there. >> our job is really the most optimal trade-off to this fracking issue? >> i am not sure it is a trade- off. i am not sure where the litmus test is or how far we have to go to satisfy a jack on the issue that fracking can be done safely. if we can do that is a win-win. >> would be saved? >> let's talk about our beaches and bays.

they are a treasure to the state. something we have to maintain. the reason we have a recreational industry and people go to the beaches are because it is a wonderful place to be. we have to protect that. >> if there was evidence it did harm the water, would you be against fracking? >> if there is clear evidence that we are polluting, we cannot do that. >> this is our drinking water. this is why this is such a big issue. there was a very controversial position i took at the time. i am going to be driven by the science. i agree with what mr. gregg said. the natural resources defense council ranked two of the beaches among best in the country for two years in a row. >> do have any advice on how to deal with these issues in the state?

>> one of the students is my daughter. she is interested in these issues. i think delaware is a tremendous place. we have beautiful places, a beautiful environment and we have to work hard to make sure we're protecting that. i think a great environment is a bonus in terms of economic development. gov. peterson past the coastal zone act. people thought that was an economic -- it was an anti-jobs. it turned out to be the opposite. because we have such a beautiful delaware bay, businesses want to be here. that is why we're fake -- focused on the bayshore initiative. one of the objections i have is the thing of the power plant in the coastal zone. the pollutants are sulfur trade we have done is we have waived

the requirement to put that manufacturing facility in the coastal zone. we did it under some crazy theory that this was great energy. i would say that jack -- let's follow the lead. that facility should not be in the coastal zone. >> we will move to our next student question. >> my question regards capital funding for charter schools. would you support capital funding for charter schools? >> i would support capital funding. charter schools former role and we need to have a range of options for parents and students. there is a caveat. charter schools, the funding cost is lower per student than it is for the public schools.

their legacy costs that make the charter schools appear more cost-efficient and they are not as cost-efficient as they appear. if we're talking about buildings and grounds and facilities, the state should take a roll. -- a role. >> my daughter graduated from the charter school of wellington. -- wilmington. it was clear that capital funding would not be there. we have been in discussions for the last year-and-a-half to figure out if there is a way to provide funding for charter schools. what we get there or not i do not know. it would be nice but in the meantime we have a challenging financial circumstance. >> i sat on the neighborhood schools committee when they're

looking at school efficiency. they had less than 50% capacity. they had large sections of school buildings. we back -- went back to the principles, we wound up with one more capacity. i think there is opportunity to be more efficient with school buildings. >> this will give you 30 seconds to respond. >> you are starting to see a lot of private school and parochial school parents sending their kids back to the public schools which i think is great. they see the improvements they're making. for some families is probably driven economically. it is a great opportunity to show what we're doing. we're already making progress. 10,000 more kids are more

proficient in reading. >> this comes from a student at -- delaware state university about crime prevention. >> what policy which you put in place to prevent juvenile offenders from becoming adults offenders? >> this has to do with what kind of educational opportunities we're providing these kids. the investment in early childhood education may not make a difference next week. those investments will pay off for overtime. the same things in terms of the overall improvements. the opening of community centers. when i went -- going to the city and talk to families and kids, they're looking for things to do which is why we opened community centers across the state. i think for a lot of these kids, giving them a sense of what their future can actually be an for a lot of them is difficult.

they're growing up in situations where they do not necessarily see what it is they can achieve. providing more internship opportunities, more mentor ship opportunities, giving these kids a chance. my wife mentored a young man since he was in second grade. he is a freshman at delaware state and it is incredible how positive that impact can be. >> we talked about this the other day. i agree with jack. one of the key things is and everyone has these challenges. having children realize the opportunity and seeing the things they have to do to move forward. the other thing i am concerned about is criminalizing youthful bad behavior. records follow us. running for office, anything we have done in the age of the internet is still out there. i am concerned about what children will do that comes back and haunt them. we have to find a way to do with

that effectively so people who may stumble can pick themselves up are not penalized for long- term youthful indiscretions. >> let's talk about where delaware stands as far as juvenile correction. that was a major overhaul. do you feel that juvenile corrections is where it should be so that we will not necessarily a graduate from [inaudible] >> we have made significant progress and i give credit to former governors who got us on this path and credit to the people working within these institutions. i have met a lot of these kids. i go into stevenson house, into some of the other institutions and that these kids. listen to them about their stories. listen to them about their issues. i meet them six months later or a year later and their stories

are moving. i give a lot of credit. joe biden's daughter ashley works for the state and has created a remarkable program. a partnership between habitat for humanity, the faith-based community, taking kids and teaching them construction skills, getting them out into the community. when you meet these kids they are growing. we have always got work to do and every time that somebody -- a kid goes into one of those facilities, we have to work harder so we can work ourselves -- >> there are children who are in these programs and we need to continue to fund them. there are children who are not successful who are graduating from the school. we need to identify who those children are early and make sure we take corrective action. it is herod's and sticks. not all carrots. >> some old habits die very

hard. this time for closing statements. >> i want to thank you for being here tonight and thank you for your kind questioning and jack for participating. i do think this election is about the economy. it is about jobs and people on food stamps, changing the direction we have. part of that is an honest assessment of where we are as a community and where we are as the state. if you pull folks, it is always about jobs and the economy. what we did with $21 million to figure for a plant that has no jobs, $19 million for a plan that does not exist down the street, if we had taken that and put into delaware businesses, expanded growth here, we would be much farther along on this

track. we need to change the focus of what we have done. focus on delaware businesses, organic growth in the state. we do that under the administration and we will have better results. i ask for indulgent and your vote. >> your closing statement. >> when chrysler and general motors changed their facilities we had a choice to make. we could fight hard to put people back to work and get people making things in delaware or we could give up. if his approach were followed what we would have is an empty building, it became factory, and a resting refinery. i was going to fight for those workers and i will continue to. what i was running for governor i could not have imagined that lehman brothers was about to collapse or that pillars of our economy were about to close down and lay off their workers. that is what happened. that changed everything. i am proud of how we pull together. we're a state of neighbors.

we have significantly more work to do. we're going to do it and that is why i ask the people of delaware for their confidence and vote. >> thank you. david wilson, thank you as well. and to our audience, we appreciate your attention as we talk about the issues in the race for governor. on behalf of delaware first media and the university of delaware center for political communications, thank you for being with us and good night. >> we are live in washington court house. this is the crown room banquet hall. we're waiting to hear from senator robb portman in their commit to it meant early vote campaigns they have been doing -- he has been doing with gov. jon casey. governor casey is not appearing at this event due to numerous power outages in northeast ohio caused by the storm. the remains of 13 sandeep.

we will hear from senator robb portlanman. we will have live coverage of this. it is tender 15 minutes away before it gets under way and we will have it here. a look at the october surprise in presidential campaigns. >> we turn our attention to the history of the october surprise. the event or events that happened before an election. joining us from their studios in washington. they get up and down about what the vote is. it is a long, storied, and mostly exaggerated history. why do we have october surprises? what are they? >> this notion of the last minute big moment that changes the trajectory of any given

race, it started in 1972 when henry kissinger said that a couple days before the presidential election that there was a possibility of peace in -- for the vietnam war. it was seen as an effort to get those last few voters who were upset with president nixon over the vietnam war. it turns out he did not need this extra voters. in every subsequent race, the media is looking for that game changing moment in the last month that can move a lot of undecided voters into one camp or another. most of the time, the so-called october surprise even -- does not happen or can happen in september. the biggest thing that moved the 2008 presidential election was the collapse of lehman brothers. in 2004, reports of the service in the alabama national guard

pop up the last couple of weeks of the election. in 2000 there were reports of his dui arrest that bush had in connecticut. a couple decades before that, they did not move many votes. the notion of the october surprise is something that can alter presidential contest. it has not done that that much over the last couple of decades. >> he noted examples of george to be bush, -- george w. bush, he won. >> it is not necessarily at the presidential level. indiana, the senate candidate richard murdock look like he was slightly ahead of democrat joe donelly going into the final debate between the two men last monday. in that debate, murdoch made

some comments about rape that were taken -- able to be used in the democratic campaign ad. those comments have dominated political coverage for the last couple of days. it has sunk his poll lead. donnelly lead in the race according to internal polls. >> will take you live for to the get out the vote event. >> the future of our country right there. this looks like from the-ryan compan -- romney-ryan country. this is how i look at it. six more days to avoid four more years. you agree with me?

i will go along with that. we need him now. it is the fourth quarter. the score is tied. we're in the red zone. the momentum is our way and you can see from this crash -- this crowd. are we going to take mitt over the goal line? of course we are. we will leave from on the field. those of you who were at football practice in your younger days. remember that? you have to leave it on the field. these next six days will determine who the next leader of the free world is. the state of ohio could determine who the next president is going to be. everything you're going to do can make a difference in terms of determining the direction of our country. that is a pretty heavy

responsibility. it is a great opportunity as a highlands -- ohioans. we have the chance to make a difference for our kids and grandkids, for our communities and our country. as i am talking to people around the state i keep hearing the same thing. you're not happy with the status quo and we have to make sure we have some change. is your job to be sure that they get out there and vote and a boat for mitt romney and paul ryan. [applause] if everybody finds five people in the washington court house or wherever it -- you live to make

sure they support mitt romney, we can make a difference. you might want to consider that. it frees you up on election day to get those five people to the polls we will try to bring a lot of folks with us to be sure that we're banking those folks. we're free to do everything we can to ensure we have the victory on november 6. when barack obama ran for president he said we will cut the deficit in half. the deficit is now $1 trillion this year. he has added 50% to our debt to the point that it has gone to $16 trillion. it does not -- does that is working to you? and when he pushed to the health care bill through, he said, if you pass this legislation, we will reduce health-care costs.

the reduction will be about $2,500. it actually has increased costs by about $2,500. does this sound like it is working? we are in the right place. and then the stimulus package, when he said i want a trillion dollars of your money, he took our money plus the bar a bunch from china. he said let's put a trillion dollars and see what happens. he says today unemployment would be 15% lower than it is. that is 9 million jobs short. does this sound like it's working? it is not. what is even more discouraging is looking at what he wants to do over the next four years. it is more of the same. there are some exceptions.

he has protected and our jobs and ensure we have the military second to none to keep the peace. i get to work with him. thank you for that. one change we will see, is something different in terms of our military. the budget cuts in about $500 billion. then it is cut further by a sequester, something the president recommended to congress as a backup to the debt limit. that is about a trillion dollars in cut to our military. the secretary of defense had said that would be devastating. he says it is unwise. we certainly saw that in the end ozzie -- in benghazi. what is happening in the extremist movements in the middle east, it is spreading and

not receding. we do face, as americans, endangers all over the world. we have to have a military where the young men and women who are willing to risk their lives for us, each of them in uniform have the equipment and technology they need to be able to do their job. that is what we would ensure with mitt romney because he is not going to cut our military. [applause] the president has promised he will raise taxes. he just said that. he said he wants to raise it on millions of small businesses. the experts have said that will result in about 700,000 jobs being lost. jobs we cannot afford to lose. mitt romney has an alternative, which makes a lot of sense. he has said let's do tax reform,

simplified the tax code and create more jobs. he did what ronald reagan did. the experts have looked at that and they have said that will create 7 million new jobs. let's talk about this as a choice. 700,000 lost or 7 million gain. which one is better? obama or romney? romney, of course. this is the choice that our fellow citizens are going to make, we are all going to make. we have to shoreham -- make sure people know the facts. i believe we have the enthusiasm on our side. i believe if we do our part, we will begin to turn things around. god bless you for what you are

doing and for what she will do. -- what you will do. in addition to sending mike turner to washington, which i know what you are going to do, he is a guy who gets it and understands how to take fiscal responsibility seriously. he balanced the budget there. we also have the opportunity to send someone to the united states senate. i have always wanted to be the senior senator from ohio. i will admit that. this election is harry reid's and worse nightmare. he could bring a republican majority to the senate.

he has done a great job. working with governor kasich, he had to go north because we had some power outages. working with the legislators on the republican side, bob peterson is here today. now he has a new role in his new district. gary is here, too. he does a good job. working together they have done what should be done in washington. joshes the treasurer. he has been upgraded whereas for the first time in our history, at the national level, our bonds were downgraded. that is because they did the right things. they got into office, they closed the gap and they did it by making government work better and reduced spending, not by raising taxes. in fact, they cut taxes to make more jobs and that is what

washington should be looking at as a model. don't you think? we need him because he is a potential majority maker but he will be a great representative. two tours of duty in iraq as a marine. a great job as treasurer. he's too be in the cleveland area. i have been there with him marching in parades' and so on as his state representative. that is when he was a younger man. it was a democrat district. he used to win it handily. hard work, grassroots. that is exactly what he has done. that is why he will be our next senator. wellcome josh -- wellcome joscoh

mandell. >> thank you for being here. i know a lot of the faces i am looking at are the same people who are making phone calls, knocking on doors in the snow and rain. we are not going to win this election by spending more money than the other side. barack obama is going to have more money than our side and they will do it with negative ads. we are going to win this thing during work with you talking to your co-workers. talking to your friends and family, a family barbecues, afternoon soccer games talking to other parents. one of the things is that the people of the state of ohio are on our side. they believe in economic

freedom. they believe that families and businesses know what to do with their dollars then government. when we take that message and spread it door-to-door, we win. that is one reason why we have gone from down 17 points to in a dog fight. when we started off, the general consensus was this was a david- goliath fight. i was running against someone who has been in political office since richard nixon. been in washington for two decades. around thanksgiving, we were down 15 points. around the superbowl we were down 12. about a month ago, we were down seven points.

that does not mean we let up. it means the opposite. it means we work that much harder. we need to go pedal to the metal for these last six days, for my race, and especially for governor romney and congressmen brian. one of the reasons i am looking forward to representing you is because i look forward to working with senator portman. he is tough as nails and has compassion and he is someone who understands the values of the state of ohio and i will be proud to serve with him and i will be proud to making the senior senator from the state of ohio. congressman turner as well doing a fantastic job representing the miami valley. he has been doing it for a long

will be proudtime and i believes throughout the miami valley are fortunate to have him and i believe in him as a leader and as a good person and a family man. senator brown and i are debating a variety of issues. one of the main issue was whether or not the free enterprise system works. i believe when someone decides they're going to go to a community bank for a loan to start a hardware store or go to family for investment or maybe still some property to start a restaurant and they take that business from two employees to 20, 200, we should celebrate that in america. we should advance that. we should reward that success. of the worldama's are trying to demonize that success. we cannot be pro-jobs and anti-

job creators. we cannot go on the front of the new york times and vilify those men and women who are signing for loans to create those jobs. that is the fundamental question he and i are having. for me, i believe in the free enterprise system. he and i are also having a public policy debate about the importance of fiscal conservatism. or right now, the lack thereof. senator portman mentioned what we have done. signing for loans to create those jobs. that is the fundamentalon ourwes bonds and investments. for the first time in a decade, we earned an upgrade. our portfolio is up over $2 billion. we navigated the european debt crisis without a loss ended on that while cutting our budget

two years in a row. compare that to washington. compare that to a barack obama's washington where they have not passed a budget for over three years. think about it. can any of you go three months without having a discussion around your kitchen table? or can you go three weeks without having a discussion around your conference room table? in washington, it has been over three years since they have passed the budget. i believe it will not only have to pass a budget, we must pass a balanced budget. it is one of the reasons i look forward to going to washington in order to pass the budget and bring fiscal order to our nation. thank you.

we also need to repeal obamacare. i look forward to being the person to do that. in addition to that, sherrod brown and i having a discussion about the natural resources. i believe in america. we have been a coal state. i call these natural resources the win-win-win, new jobs for our state for folks right here in this county and other counties. making pipes and tubes for the industry. affordable energy. bringing down the cost of heating our homes and gas in our cars and powering factories. imagine if a company could hire more people. the third is a stronger tax base

for our community. imagine if we had a new source of revenue to take care of our senior citizens without raising taxes at all. organic to our state and country. the fourth, it is national security. we produce as much energy as possible in the united states. think about what has happened over the past couple of months, libya, and our embassy over run, our ambassador killed. in egypt, the american flag brought down. in egypt, the persecution of coptic christians throughout

egypt. in saudi arabia, we -- women are still treated as second-class citizens. in iran, roadside bombs against american troops. in venezuela, calling for that is correct -- destruction for our way of life. we can do that or we can depend on counties, ohio, the list goes on and on. let me leave you with this commitment. there is going to be a day when i go to washington and someone who is a powerful person puts his hand on my shoulder and says you had better vote for this legislation or i'm going to kick you off your committee or somebody said you had better

vote for this or i will shut off or fund-raising or a journalist said its u.s. better vote for this or i will write a bad editorial about you. my commitment to all of you is i will look at journalist, that lobbyists, that political boss in the eye and tell them i do not work for them. my boss is the people the state of ohio and no one in washington is going to push me around. thank you very much.

>> what is your name? i am coming down. ddy. you go, but

>> i tried to explain that to my friends in the media. i am not against barack obama, i am for mitt romney. he had a camera? do you have a camera? >> hey, how are? >> where is your camera? is that your dad?

>> i am on the board elections. -- board of elections. >> one, two. >> i saw you over there, didn't i? over there, over here? >> thank you. >> the dynamic duo. we're going to take them over the line, right? we need you. we have to win this one, don't

we? that is the idea. if you are tougher -- he did that on his own. a lot of people fight for credit. the credit belongs to him. he did a good job. paparazzi over there. appreciate it.

>> good to see you guys. thank you for coming out. take care.

>> the wait time has increased drastically. we will find out specifically on that for you. thank you for your service. >> i am good.

>> good to see you. >> of first class mail for you. >> i am his mother. he is my baby. >> thank you for coming today.

>> good luck to you guys. are you trecker trading today -- trick or treating today? what are you going to wear? >> one halloween, we used to get a lot of trick or treaters.

you want to take it? get in here. good luck, guys. thanks for coming tonight. take care. stay out of their hair.

>> you look at what you got. thanks for coming. good luck to you.

>> we have to hit the road. good to see you guys.

>> yeah, absolutely. >> thank you for coming. it is a great community and we appreciate it. take care.

>> rob portman wrapping up his commitment to make the event. john kasich was supposed to be there but some power outages, has attended to those. presidential candidate mitt romney has a campaign even this evening, the last of his three stops in ohio. he will be in florida today, rather, campaigning with jeb bush. we'll have that for you tonight at 8:00 eastern and follow that with your phone call reaction and your twittery action on c- span. you heard about the rain in ohio, the president in new jersey with the governor of new jersey, chris christie, touring parts of that state. and here in brigantine, north of

atlantic city, he spoke to firefighters and other people as well. this is about 20 minutes. >> good afternoon, everybody. i want to thank the members are here and i want to thank the president. we spent a significant afternoon to get there surveying the damage up and down a coastline. we were able to show the president that personally. we had an opportunity to discuss it.

and over to the shelter and meet with folks and have them see the president and his concern all of us have for making sure that things get back to normal as quickly as possible. we have a lot of challenges. things we need to do to make sure we get power restored as quickly as possible, that people have clean water, hospitals are taking care of things they need to when we get kids back to school. i discussed all those issues with the president and i am pleased to report he has sprung into action immediately to give us those things while we were in a car together. i want to thank him for that. he has worked with me since before the storm. this is our sixth conversation since the weekend. it has been a great working relationship to make sure we are doing the job people asked us to do. i cannot think him enough for his personal concern and compassion for our state and the people of our state. i was able to witness it personally. people have clean water, hospitals are taking care of things theywe aro coordinating with fema. i want to thank mr. fugate. we will move on from here.

what i said yesterday i really mean. there is going to be soro, you -- sorrow, and you see that. the president has seen that today. that is appropriate. we have suffered from loss. we have not suffered that much a loss of life and we thank god for that. we have suffered losses. this is the worst storm i have seen in my lifetime in the state but we cannot permit that sorrow to replace the resilience we have. we will get up and we will get this thing rebuilt and we'll get things back together because that is what the state is all about. for all of you who are here, and i met a bunch of you today who disregarded my admonition co, at to get the hell out of here, you are forgiven this time. but not for much longer. when all of you look around and you see the destruction, all

that stuff can be replaced. you look to your right and left, to your husband, your wife, those are the things that cannot be replaced. i am glad we do not have that kind of loss of life. thank you for bringing -- being here today. it is my honor to introduce you to the president of the united states. >> thank you, everybody. let me make sure i acknowledge the folks who are here because

they have played an important role in this. first of all, your congressional delegation, senator bob menendez, congressman frank, atlantic county executive dennis levenson, and the brigantine mayor. obviously this is a federal, state, and local efforts. the first thing i want to do is thank everybody who has been involved in the rescue and recovery process. at the top of my list, i have to say governor christie, throughout the process, has been responsive, he has been aggressive in making sure the state got out in front of this incredible storm and i think the people of new jersey recognize he has put his heart and soul in making sure the people of new jersey bounce back even stronger than before. i want to thank him for his leadership and partnership. i want to thank the congressional delegation because part of the reason we are able to respond quickly is because they help make sure fema financing was in place. we are appreciative of those efforts. i want to thank craig fugate. sometimes people think fema, not the people behind it but craig lives and breathes this stuff, may shrink -- making sure

we're providing help. i want to thank all of the personal responders who have been involved in this process, the firefighters, the folks who are in here shuttling out people who were supposed to get the hell out and did not. you have helped save a lot of lives and property. one thing you learn in these tragedies is the first responders, i keep in all -- keep in mind in their homes are under water and yet they make those personal sacrifices to help other people. we appreciate that. i'm going to make a couple of comments. number one, our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones. it is true that because of preparation, the loss of life was kept lower than it might have been.

for those individual families, obviously their world has been torn apart. we need to make sure that everybody who has lost a loved one knows they are in our thoughts and prayers. four of those like the people i had a chance to meet throughout new jersey and the region, whose lives have been up ended, my second message is, we are here for you. we will not forget, we will make sure you get all the help you need until you have rebuilt. at this point, our focus is on the states of the new jersey, which got hit harder than anybody. the state of new york, particularly lower manhattan. we are concerned about connecticut as well and we are still monitoring west virginia where there are heavy snows in

inaccessible areas. for the most part, those four states are bearing the brunt of this incredible storm. what we have been able to do is stage commodities, water, power generators, ambulances in some cases, food, medical supplies, emergency supplies, and we have over 2000 fema personnel on the ground right now. their job, now that we are moving out of search and rescue is make sure they are talking to individual communities so people know exactly how they can get the help they need. we expedited our emergency declarations for the state of new jersey and local counties that have been affected. that means the people can

immediately start registering for emergency assistance. one of the things i want to emphasize to the people of new jersey and the region, now that you are safe, your family is safe, you are trying to figure out where you're going to stay the next couple of days, it is important you know there is help available to you right now. for example, to find rental housing or pay for groceries. we saw a young woman who had a newborn, probably in eight- month old that needs diapers and formula. those are the kind of supplies and help we can provide. if you call 800-621-fema, or disasterasistance.gov, if you have access to the internet, you can register right now so that you can immediately start

receiving help. we want to make sure everything you need. a couple of final points, obviously our biggest priority is getting power turned back on. we are pleased newark got power. jersey city is getting power today. there are still in chunks of the community, including this community right here, that do not have power. it is hard enough cleaning up debris and dealing with boats that have been appended and -- upended roads that are blocked. when people do not have power, they are disabled in all sorts of ways and it is hard to get back to normal. yesterday i had a chance to speak to the ceos of the utilities from all across the country. a lot of the states that were spare, that were not hard hit, or some as far away as california, they have pledged to start getting equipment,

cruise, etc. come into new jersey -- crews, etc., into new jersey. we were able to get c-17's, c- 130's, military transport planes potentially to move assets, personnel, to speed up the process of getting power up and running as soon as possible. our first priority is water filtration plants and some other critical infrastructure. for that, we have emergency generators. we have a navy ship that has helicopters that can move assets around the state as well. we are going to be working with local officials to identify those critical infrastructure and how we can get what is needed as quickly as possible.

a couple of other things we are concerned about, as power starts coming back on, we want to make sure people can also get to work. a lot folks in jersey work in new york come in the city, and in other places where transportation may be hobbled. one of the things i mentioned is the possibility of us using federal assets, and military assets as well as taking inventory of the country that can be brought in so we can help people get to their work. governor christie also mentioned the importance of schools. the sooner we can get them back into school, the sooner they are in a routine, that helps the families. we are going to have a lot of work to do. i do not want anybody to feel that somehow this is going to be cleaned up over night. we want to make sure people have realistic expectations. what i can promise is the

federal government will be working as closely as possible with the state and local officials and we will not quit until this is done. the directive by have given, i will repeat, i think craig and others know i mean it, we are not going to tolerate red tape, bureaucracy. i instituted a 15 minute rule. you return everybody's phone calls in 15 minutes, whether it is the mayor, county officials, if they need something, we figure out a way to say yes. as i was gathering around, i had a chance to talk sellout -- will repeat, i think craigto soo had been volunteering cleaning up debris. community at the center, there was a restaurant owner who had been cooking meals, as his contribution to the recovery process.

some of the folks were saying the food was better than what they got at home. you had a 15-year-old young man whose mother was disabled and he was making sure she was ok and taking on extraordinary responsibilities for herself but -- for himself but also for his mom. when you see folks like that to respond with strength and resilience, when you see neighbors helping neighbors, you are reminded about what america is all about. we go through tough times but we bounced back. the reason is because we look out for one another. we do not leave anybody behind. my commitment to the people on this block, the people in this community, and the people of this stage, is that same spirit will carry over until our work is done. thank you very much, everybody.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> president obama and chris christie from earlier today in brigantine, new jersey. the president will be in green bay, wisconsin, las vegas, nev., and in boulder, colorado. mitt romney had three stops in florida, the last of which will be coming up in an hour. he is joined by jeb bush. we will have that for you live followed with your phone calls the reaction on c-span. over the past week, we have been looking at the battleground states in the presidential election. this morning was the focus on new hampshire. we will tell you about that in a

minute. coming up tomorrow, we will look at the impact of hurricane sandy and talk to the head of the independent insurance agents and look at virginia as a swing state with larry sabato and brian moran and the chairman of the virginia campaign. the swing state of virginia is the focus of "washington journal." this morning of the focus was on the state of new hampshire. >> we have been taking a look at those nine swing states that hold the keys to the election and today we put the spotlight on the state of new hampshire. the small state up there in the northeast corner holding four collect oral votes.

right now it's the unemployment rate is 5.7% and president obama won the state into thousand eight with 9%. the executive director of the institute -- he is joining us from manchester. let's begin with tough issues for new hampshire voters. >> before i get started, i wanted to thank c-span and congratulate them on 15 years being on the air. it has been a very new book valuable resources -- a very valuable resource. we are a swing states. four electoral votes. it sounds like a small number but if al gore had won the four votes, he would have become president. they are very important. this state right to know is a tossup. the issues are different than it would be across the country. unlike nevada, that has a

higher unemployment rate. ron sommer, it was 5.2%. -- and like summer, it was 5.2%. it is the number one issue but ring home like other issues. right now, we are seeing that the candidates are coming into, particularly the president has coming into the seacoast area. towns like rochester, cities like rochester are areas that are indicative of what may happen in the election. the other location that candidates are coming into as the city alive -- city of nashua. the president was there a few

days ago. it seems to be a place that is being fought over. it is along the massachusetts border. massachusetts is the state governor romney lead. it is an interesting area. many of the people from nashua work in massachusetts. >> who are the voters in these areas? >> well, new hampshire has a libertarian streak. our model is live free or die. it is a tossup location. the voters, you know, i think they are voting for the person they think is going to lead the country for the next four years. some people will say new hampshire has a summer home of governor rodney and the state next door was massachusetts where he was governor. i think that is less of a factor. the people can see beyond that. they are voting for the person

they think is best for the 50 states. traditionally new hampshire was solidly republican for many years. recently, it was the clinton 1992 phenomenon that has changed that. he won the state twice. in 2000 it went to george w. bush, but in 2004 went to john kerry. the president had a nine-point victory in 2008. we really are a tossup state. the polls go back and forth. it is difficult to determine who is going to win this state right now. host: is their early voting? how do new hampshire and -- new hampshire residents vote on election day? guest: there are absentee ballots. you have to sign a form that

says you not be available on voting day to come to the polls. traditionally, they are open from 7:00 until 7:00. some are open until 8:00 p.m. on election day. we have one of the highest voter turnout in the country. other statistical interesting statistics -- statistical facts are that we are one of the least taxed state in the nation. the least taxed state. we have no income tax, no sales tax. both the democrat and republican candidates will campaign on that issue, pledging that they will not have an income tax or sales tax. are gubernatorial candidates right now are both running on that issue, as a matter of fact. host: talk about the recant loss in the state of new hampshire. is it -- recount alws in the --

laws in the state of new hampshire. what are the rules for that? guest: we have a fine secretary of state who is quite experienced in this. he is the person who has been a keeper of the flame for the new hampshire primary. we had a famous 3 count here in the late 1970's with senator john durkin, who recently passed away. i do not see it coming down to that. we will see what happens on tuesday. other states may be more likely to have a recount then you hampshire. host: what about voter i.d. laws? do you have them? guest: >> there is some controversy. the legislature passed a voter law that require people to swear that they would, if they were going to vote in a certain town,

that they would pay taxes and registration fees for their cars in the town. this was appealed and the state supreme court has put that on hold. right now, some of our voters are confused about those issues going into tuesday. host: neil levesque is the executive director at st. anselm college cost new hampshire institute of politics. if you would like to join the conversation, the numbers are on your screen. also, the sake tweet at twitter, @cspanwj, send us an email, jounral@c-span.org. we also have a special line set for new hampshire residents. we want to hear from you during this next hour and a half conversation on the battleground

state of new hampshire. neil levesque, let's talk about election night. what will you be watching for? guest: i will be looking at the cities of nashua and areas along the border of massachusetts, but also towns such as rochester, as i mentioned. one interesting thing about election night is that governor romney has announced he will be here before -- the day before the election. another president did that as well -- another candidate for president did, that was john f. kennedy. he came to new hampshire before coming down to cape cod to wait for returns. as we all know, they did not come through that evening in 1960. host: how is governor romney dealing with the good economy in new hampshire? 5.7% unemployment rate? guest: is tricky if your main

message is the economy and new hampshire's the economy and unemployment rate is so low. it is slightly tricky. one issue the democrats have been using for the presidential election and in our gubernatorial race is the issue of abortion. and that has been something that has been highly significant -- is significant in the advertising i have seen on new hampshire television. being in a swing state, if you are watching nationwide, you turn on the television or radio, it is all advertising. if you are a local auto dealer and are trying to sell your cars, you have a hard time getting your ads in at this point. it is nonstop. you see a positive ad for the president, then a negative ad against the president. a positive ad for governor romney, then a negative ad for

governor romney. it is interesting, even for somebody like me who is in the business of politics, it can get very confusing. i am sure that voters are confused at this point, to some degree. host: when you take a look at party registration in new hampshire -- republicans 32%, democrats 28%, and undeclared voters make up 40% of registered voters. how are these to candidates appealing to that 40%? guest: a few days before the general election, if you are a candidate you are looking at the undeclared voters. there are 310,000 of them in new hampshire. political scientists believe they may claim to be and declared at the local ballot but when they go to vote they traditionally lean one way or another. you are trying to talk to the is and declared and voters who are

swinging back and forth. one interesting thing here with the new hampshire -- we have to congressmen, the first and second congressional district. the second congressional district leans democrat and is held by congressman bass, who is a republican. that district is something i will be watching for as well. as i mentioned, nashua, which is in that district, is a city where candidates have been pouring into and surrogates. it will be a district will be watching on election night. host: let's go to brian in new hampshire -- independent caller. you are sought after by these two candidates -- how are you going to vote? do you know? caller: i am leaning towards obama. when i hear him speak, he connects better with me.

when i listen to obama speak, more of my questions are answered them when i listen to romney speak. i tend to have more questions and i get confused as i listen to him. it is hard to pinpoint where he is on the issues. my question -- if the guest has studied, i am a relatively new residents to new hampshire, but if you study new residents voting as opposed to older residents, people who have been here for generations, and if you have seen any significant differences between the two that are worth talking about? guest: that is a great question. one of the fallacies in new hampshire is that people move from the state of massachusetts, which is much more government-

centered state and new hampshire, moving across the border and then voting democrat. the fact is that is not true. the towns along the border with a lot of new residents, implants from massachusetts, are the solid republican towns these days. years ago, in the 1960's, the cities were the democratic cities in new hampshire and if you are a candidate all you had to do was win the towns. the towns now, particularly along the connecticut river, the border with vermont, are very strong democratic towns and very strong democratic areas now. it is almost a complete reversal. the old yankee farmer, if you will, might have switched party registration in the last 20 years. host: here is to get on twitter.

how do residents in new hampshire regard mr. sununu and his remarks on president obama? guest: governor sununu is a knowledgeable former governor of new hampshire. he was chief of staff for herbert walker bush. he knows national politics and has been doing quite a bit of television on behalf of the republican party. a very smart man, very well respected. certainly, anyone in politics who is on television a lot and is commenting sometimes may or may not say something that they regret. i am not going to judge each one of his remarks, but -- host: has it had an impact on the new hampshire voter? guest: is very well-respected in

new hampshire, which is maybe one reason why he has been up front for the republican party. he is among people in new hampshire would tend to listen to. the senator is very popular, and our outgoing governor, the president pass campaign used him in advertising because he is so popular. he has been on the stage with the president. they are using surrogates like that. i think that the president's campaign is very smart to use some of these people like the senator, who is more of a centrist democrat, favorable with independent voters you asked about. if you are a new hampshire voter and you are watching television, you might get confused by all these television ads and independent expenditures, but then you are popular u.s. senator or, for example, senator ayotte r.

governor romney comes on television and speaks on their behalf. you may be likely to sway your vote in that direction. i think the two u.s. senators and their endorsements of the two opposite candidates have been very important here in new hampshire. host: who won in 2008 and why, and how is it looking with six days to go? guest: president obama won in new hampshire by nine points in the 2008. senator mccain has spent a lot of time here not only in his primary campaigns 2008 but previous to that in 2000. he had a over 100 town hall meetings in new hampshire in that time. he has been to a lot of different places in new hampshire. he continues to come to new hampshire on the behalf of governor romney. again, i think that new hampshire is a tossup. it is anyone's guess at this

point. it is what makes politics exciting. the candidates are placing a lot of emphasis here. as i mentioned, romney is coming in. we see president clinton is coming in at the end of this week for the president. i do not have any research, necessarily, on this, but i would say that president clinton and hillary clinton are very popular in new hampshire and particularly amongst activists. he continues to be a very popular figure here. host: in the average of polls and the state of new hampshire, president obama has a slight edge, 48.8 to 46.8. you can see the specific polls that have been taken giving obama an edge in some and romney a edge in others. neill in ohio, independent

caller. caller: i will not say my last name, but i will say that i already voted, i am truly independent. i must say, i found it disgusting that mid romney would stay in ohio to collect canned goods if he truly believes we should be reliant on private enterprise if there is a disaster. why doesn't he does take millions of dollars out of his own pocket and buy canned goods and send them in and continue on his way? instead, he sends coleman to ohio to talk about what he says on abortion, which is untrue. at the same point in time, he is changing his game and changing every view. we know he bashed fema. the president is doing his job.

he is not doing anything but his job. host: the front page of the "boston globe" shows the impact of the storm, millions reeling. the "hartford courant" has this headline. go ahead, neil levesque. guest: it affected new hampshire as well. our fourth largest power outage. going to the color's point -- new hampshire, we do have the opportunity to be around these candidates, particularly during the primary. i will say this -- no matter what party they are from you will find that candidates are very patriotic people. they really want to do the best they can for our country, and they are wonderful, not only with what they do in the public but also with their families.

it is something voters do not get to see. it is quite sad, because these people are really tremendous, they were kerry hard -- worked very hard. more than half of everyone who put their name on a ballot loses. it takes great courage to think you can do this and try to read these candidates put their names on the ballot and run and run very well. the candidates for president -- governor romney has been running for years now. probably three years nonstop. the president is certainly tireless as well. it is one thing that we get to see here up close, and i wish they got an opportunity to see these candidates and see what they are like. host: john in new hampshire, independent scholar. caller. caller: a quick point and a

question. i lived in massachusetts when romney was the governor back in 2006, what have you. overall, mr. romney, governor romney at the time -- you hear how we set up a slush fund and all these great things he did for the state which are totally untrue. i have to say, i look at -- i live in new hampshire. the campaign itself, and this is my question, i guess, the campaign where he is changing positions from the time he was

governor of massachusetts to what he says today, he has totally changed his whole direction. he is -- he was pro-like back then, now he is pro-life. guest: let's get that point. host: let's get that point. guest: candidates can change positions. the president, you can hold certain examples of the president's record where he changed positions. between next tuesday and inauguration day, no matter who wins you might see changing of the positions taken during the campaign. just a guess. these things well changed over time. candidates will take a step down from a harder positions they took in the campaign.

is the nation -- nature of politics. host: green bay, wisconsin. democratic caller. caller: good morning. i am a graduate of the american school system, but i've question on polling in general. the polling i have heard, 90% of the african-american vote will go to obama. 80% of women voters will go for obama. and if you want, the other votes, if you are nice about it and give romney 50% of the vote, how can he be so close in the polls? guest: each poll is different. referencing real clear politics, one example of a site that is pretty good as far as bringing pulling together.

the question as to how polling is these days -- how accurate polling is these days with one- third of households not having home front anymore. pew charitable trust did a study that indicated 9% of people they're reaching out to our actual responding. in new hampshire, weather is from campaigns or different parties, if you stay home tonight you will get probably on average 5 to 10 phone calls. it gets to the point where you shut your rigor off and you do not even turn on your answering machine. you could be on the phone on my with pollsters. pollsters after this election, as they always do, will boil down things and find out where the margins were, what went right, what went wrong. there are very talented people. a lot of time they are very

accurate. i will say, if you are for 1 candidate or another, there is your own emotions that play into this sometimes. you'll see a poll that is not favorable to you and your party and sometimes your emotions can play into it, but on the most part, particularly with averages, they are generally accurate. host: yesterday we did a segment about polling, understanding that during this campaign season. if your interested, go to our website, c-span.org. we had the pew research of director -- director of research on polling. republican caller from texas. caller: good morning. i want to now what everyone out there -- people who go to college, whether their parents paid for it or they pay for it themselves, are very proud they went to college.

i cannot figure out why obama, including his wife, have hidden their records and sealed them. guest: i do not want to comment directly on that necessarily, but i will say that we all went to college and we all have our records. i am not sure that if i were candidate for president i would want that all out there, what i wrote in an essay 25 years ago. however, his record now, he has been president for four years and his record is there. i would encourage the voters to look at his record and see if they -- it is favorable to you and make your decision next tuesday as you go to the polls. host: let me end with this tweet. new hampshire has momentum -- in

the primary, in the general is not that important. guest: is a few electoral votes. if it was not important the president and governor romney would not be here least once a week and surrogates. every single day we have a major surrogate in the state of new hampshire. it al gore had won the state, he would have become president of united states. this is all about the math. these skilled people in each campaign now looking at this, looking at each county, figuring out where these people need to go. very strategic as far as when you see the president in new hampshire, he is in nashua, he is there for a specific reason and not in manchester, 20 miles to the north. there is a lot of science to this. there is a lot of polling that

goes into it. it is very strategic. we have had a lot of candidates here for the primary. we have had a lot of exposure to them. certainly, voters here are knowledgeable about who these people are after going through the primary. the different debates that go on. host: neil levesque, executive director of the new hampshire institute for politics, thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> in 35 minutes, and we go live to jacksonville with our road to the white house coverage. mitt romney campaign and with former florida governor jeb bush. we follow with your phone calls and tweets. until then, back to this morning's "washington journal." a look at new hampshire from the democratic point of view. there are four electoral votes at stake. it is considered a tight race out there. if its history of being a swing

state continues -- is on our list of nine swing states. conversation continues about the battle ground states of new hampshire. kathy sullivan is the chairwoman of the democratic party. she tried to us from manchester this morning. "washington post" piece. guest: that is not true. the democrats and president obama have been on the ground since the primary ended in february.

the classic story was he drove through manchester and was locked, shut and the sides were down. the obama campaign was up and running. in knocking on doors, making phone calls. engaged in voter contacts for months and months before the obama campaign came back to new hampshire. i would say the republicans are talking of a good ground game, but the reality is the obama ground game is much better, and that will be a crucial factor when obama wins here next tuesday. host: given that obama won the state in 2008 by nine percentage points, and the economy is not that bad in new hampshire compared to other states, why is the race so close for the president? guest: new hampshire is typically a swing state. go back and look at the races in 2000 and 2004, they were very close.

2008 the president did win going away. mitt romney is someone who was governor of massachusetts. he has been keenly -- campaigning here really for six years because he ran in 2008 and lost. did not take too much time before you started appearing here again. what is really surprising is he is not been able to close the deal with the picture voters, and they're still backing president obama. if you look at the polls, on average, the president is winning. he has maintained a small but steady lead. i think this year you will see a number similar to what we had in 2004 and not so much in 2008. that was a different year. a lot of people were so upset with george bush. the president will pull out and win next tuesday. i think the numbers will be closer to what they were in 2004.

host: what is your handicap for the governor's race and the two contested congressional races in the state? guest: in the governor's race, the democratic canada has maintained a small but said to lead in the polls. she has been out there campaigning and really doing a good job getting the message out. the republican, a very well- known figure in the state. this is the fourth time he is run for major office. he has not been successful in the past, despite the fact that he had much greater name recognition. he just has not been able to catch her in the polls. the polls go back and forth on each of those. it is a rematch of the congressional races we saw two years ago. the incumbent was defeated by

mayor manchester. i am not sure what will happen. i believe it will be a good night for democrats overall and we will pick up both congressional states. both are very close right now. host: with the economy. well, the candidates have turned to other issues. i want to show an ad that the iran the campaign is airing in the state of new hampshire. >> it is stronger now than when i came to america. >> our navy is smaller now that any time the 1917. that is unacceptable to me. this is the highest responsibility of the presence of united states, and i will not cut the military budget by a trillion dollars, a combination of the budget cut the president has. that is making our future less certain and less secure. host: what is your reaction?

guest: i am surprised irani is -- romney is still talking about the navy after the president made about forces and bayonets. people know and understand president obama is devoted to the security of this country, that he made the call to send in the seals to take out osama bin laden it was such a threat to our country. president obama has made a real priority of eliminating the leadership of al qaeda. he has extricated as out of a choice -- for a choice in iraq that cause the problems in the real economy here at home and allies around the world. president obama has done a great job on national security and foreign affairs. mitt romney, you saw him in the debate on the topic of foreign

policy. most of his ideas he was a me, too. host: let's hear from our republican voters in new hampshire. caller: it is amazing that are all on the puck for president obama. you want to watch a balanced news station, go to fox news. that is the truth, it really is. president george bush would have been crucified if this went down in libya. for american soldiers, people that were killed. they were just sitting around. same situation. mitt romney does have a plan. he is a businessman. obama has never been run a lemonade stand.

let's be honest. guest: with respect to benghazi the president is insisting on getting to the bottom. he has also said we will find those responsible and nature -- make sure they are held responsible. that is what we expect from are responsible president. with respect to the other comments, obviously with respect to fox news, i do not watch fox news, so i cannot really comment on fox other than to say it might be a good idea if our friends from kingston tried watching some other shows once in awhile to see what other folks are saying and not rely upon one source of news. when you rely only on one news source, it can be somewhat biased. i think the president is doing a good job, and i am really looking forward to another four years of president obama. host: st. charles, missouri.

dale is a democrat a calller. caller: i was born and raised a republican. after voting for presidential elections for the past 30 years as a democrat makes me a democrat. the question i have, that i would like you to address is the single-issue voters that the republicans catered to, we see numerous examples of people from texas in particular that have a belief system that is not based on facts. i am curious why the democratic party has not addressed the single issue voters. i keep asking people. what did you get for the gun issues from george bush, ronald reagan, there administrations of the congress?

they cannot tell me. ditto abortion issues. ditto gay rights. there does not appear to be any better relations -- legislation that the federal level but i am aware of or that they are aware of. host: we will leave it there and go to victoria, a republican. caller: my thoughts are real quick, we have the right to bear arms number-one. number two, my vote lies solely on obama care. i am 56. i am getting ready to retire. i do not want to pay for birth control. the ladies who make money can go down to planned parenthood and pay $20 for it. why should i pay for their birth control?

it is against my faith. i have the freedom of religion and plan to exercise that by voting for romney. host: kathy sullivan. guest: in the first place, no one is proposing that taxpayers pay for someone's birth control. the issue is whether or not the employer has the right to discriminate against certain types of prescriptions, specifically birth control. this is a law we have had in new hampshire for several years now that employers have to cover prescription contraceptive. it has worked quite well. it has nothing to do with the tax payer. it is the expense of the employer, not the taxpayer. with respect to the health-care issue, i have to tell you something, i am the managing partner of a law firm. we have about 50 people who work there.

up until couple of years ago, our health and -- health insurance premiums went up by double-digit numbers. for years. last year our health care premiums will have gone up by only 3% total for two years, which is unheard of several years ago. we kept looking at the double- digit percentage increases. i am very happy with what the president has done with respect to health care. i think it is starting to have the impact of driving down insurance premiums. we're also seeing we have more people with pre-existing conditions who will have insurance coverage. whereas under mitt romney plan someone with pre-existing conditions loses insurance temporarily in goes back will not be insured. children be able to stay on their parents' health care plan until the age of 26 so that kids coming out of college may not

have a job will be able to still have health insurance. these are important factors and important issues for people in this country. i really am happy with what the president has done with health care reform. i think that is why the president is proud it is called obama care. caller: you are a very beautiful lady, and let me tell you something, we fight each other over all these issues, but we will have to face what is coming to all of us. you are totally right under your assessment of iran. -- assessment of mitt romney. cspan, one more thing, the engagement between democrats and republicans, i think that is very healthy for the united states. also, the affordable health care act is a beautiful bill. i am so happy they are willing

to take care of people with pre- existing conditions it will not be able to cheat us. one thing for certain, white oak, black folk, hispanic votes, we have to go find each other now. -- white folk, black folk, hispanic folk. we need these people fighting for justice for the american people. i live in south central l.a.. i have to watch some of the most serious atrocities every day. to have good folks here. you have people not willing to given to the beast of racism. as long as we continue to fight each other, we will have these problems. but our people in new york and new jersey. i think the governor of new jersey had a beautiful

statement. no, i do not believe it is used totally, but what he said the other day i am so impressed with him. -- believe in his views totally, but what he said the other day i am so impressed with him. guest: i think the fact the with the governor said yesterday with respect and to the natural disaster is great. there is too much need-jerk partisan reaction. it is great to see someone come forward and praised the president for his leadership with respect to the aftermath of hurricane sandy. we had some of that impact here in new hampshire. we still have tens of thousands of folks without power. we did not get hit as badly as people in new york and new jersey, connecticut, selfish or massachusetts.

a little luckier than those, but hopefully everyone will go -- will get the help they need of the recovery will go smoothly. host: president obama will to work the state of -- tour the state of new jersey today. caller: you have to understand why president obama can delay the benghazi problem until after the election. he was very proud to show the situation room when he got a hold of bin laden, but now he does not want any faxed to come out about this one until after election. host: why do you think he is delaying it when the house is controlled by republicans? caller: because he is.

you tell me he is not? host: i do not know. i was wondering what evidence you have of that. caller: any news program, he will go on better of it, the view, but will not go on any programs that will ask him the hard questions. host: we go to neal, a republican calller from pennsylvania. caller: their number one. cnn forget it. chris matthews plays the race card every tying democrats are losing. then it is the other guy. benghazi should be number-one. four americans killed. where is obama? he would not want any programs

and answer anything. host: let me get your thoughts on this. guest: the president has been in a couple of debates since what happened there. the subject did come up here yet i think it is not correct to say that he has not gone anywhere where the subject has been able to be discussed. we did have nationally-televised debates. the president has been very clear, and that is we need to get to the bottom of what happened, and we will find those responsible and hold them responsible. given the president's record with respect to the leadership of al qaeda and bin laden, i think we can expect him to do exactly what he promised to do, and that is fine the responsible -- find those responsible and held them responsible. did you want to picture it is done correctly and with the correct information. that is what the president is

doing, and i think that is the right way to conduct a national security. host: show the viewers the breakdown earlier. unregistered voters mix of 40%. what is internal polling showing about how many of those voters president obama could capture? >> i do not want to talk about internal polling, but let me say this, based on what i am seeing, i am very confident the president will have a good night here in new -- here on tuesday. we are working hard to make sure we have every obama supporter out there and out there to vote so we do have a victory. i think it will be closer, closer to the 2004 election when senator kerrey won. i do think president obama will pull it off, because he has such an excellent ground game, and because of these big city

issues that are born to the people of new hampshire. we talk about real depth is a reduction, the specifics of his plan, unlike mitt romney to has yet to answer how he will pay for his plan. the people understand you want someone willing to talk about specifics, someone who has a record of cutting taxes for working-class and middle-class people. someone who has a record for cutting taxes for small businesses. the president has signed 18 tax cuts into law for small business people. i think the people of new hampshire, when they look at the president's record and compare that to mitt romney's record, they will say president obama has shown steady leadership when he came into office, turned things around and is continuing to make things better. when you look at his record compared to mitt romney's

rhetoric, then i think the independent voters will vote for president obama and help give us a victory next week. host: kathy sullivan is the democratic committeewoman. shares serves as the new hampshire democratic chairwoman from 1999-2007. when is the difference between them? guest: as democratic party chair i was the person who basically was elected to be in charge of the democratic party for the state of new hampshire. as national committeewoman i am not as active in the day to day activities, but instead represent the state party at the national level with the national committee under the great leadership under the congresswoman deborah what torrential. -- wasserman-schultz. -- deborah watzerman-schulz. caller: in new hampshire of the property taxes are very high

compared to massachusetts for example. i know this is for the property owners and a constitutional amendment proposal to put this on the ballot banning any future imposition of state income tax or federal income tax -- sales tax by 80 in the governor of the legislature. i think it is a very bad idea. i think they should have ever won pay an income tax, rather than most of the property tax by the property owners like me. host: kathy sullivan, go ahead. guest: in new hampshire this year we have three questions on the ballot. one is the constitutional amendment to ban a statewide income tax.

i personally am opposed to a statewide income tax. i think it hampshire has done very well without an income tax. we have done well through a recession without an income tax. however, i am opposed to a constitutional amendment. i do not think voters today should tie the hands of future generations. they should have their own ability to make their own decisions for how to pay for the services that government provides. our forefathers did not hide our own hands with respect to telling us how we had to pay for services, so i do not think we should do that. there are other questions on the ballot. one is to give the legislature bidault authority and the right to impose rules on the courts of ohio -- on the courts of new hampshire so the legislature can impose their own rules on our courts. i am opposed to that. recent legislature, which is controlled right now by the very radical and extreme

republicans. one of the first actions they took was to allow guns into the state house, something we had not allowed in the past. i am concerned it would give the legislature the rules for the court, we may end up in the same situation in the courthouse. i am against that question as well. the third question would be to have a new hampshire constitutional convention, 400 people. i am opposed to that. i think it would be a costly and unnecessary endeavor. we do have another process to oppose amendments. i am encouraging everyone in new hampshire to vote no on all three questions on the ballot this year. host: we are talking about the battleground state of new hampshire. we wanted to update you on president obama campaign plans. he will resume -- resume campaigning with stops in about

it, wisconsin on thursday. this is from "the associated press." tom democratic calller. last calller for kathy sullivan. caller: i would just like to know that romney reaches a lot about national-security. being hispanic, there's a lot of working-class people. i would like to know, has anyone in his family ever been in the military service? i mean, here he is talking national security. we send our sons to foreign wars and all these things happen with people's kids, but what about his kids? anyone in his family ever been to war? host: i am not sure you know the answer to that question, but why are military issues of the deal in new hampshire? guest: i think military issues

are a big issue everywhere, but we do have been able shipyard, and we also have their force base and national guard. i think like every state in the country, we also have some defense contractors as well. security is always a big issue. for example, my parents were both world war ii vetrans. you find a lot of veterans in new hampshire. the important thing is to look at the record in comparison to record. president obama has a great record on national security and taking down the leadership of al qaeda, our enemies. people came into our country and killed 2000 of our citizens. at the same time, look at mitt romney in what he is proposing is trillions of dollars in defense spending that the military is not even asking for. he is looking at the old way of conducting military affairs. he is still talking about the

ways the navy operated in 1917, as opposed to the security threats that face us today in the country in 2012, and what is the most effective way of protecting our people and our country in 2012. look at the rhetoric, as opposed to the record. if you look of the record, you will support president obama. host: kathy sullivan with the democratic national committee, thank you for your time. >> thank you. it was a pleasure being here. >> we will be going live shortly for a rally with gop presidential candidate mitt romney. at this event we hear from u.s. senate candidate congressman connie mack and former governor jeb bush. it is expected to get under shortly. we will bring it live view when

it does. in the meantime, we continue our look at the battleground state of new hampshire with the republican perspective. the conversation about the accounts state of new hampshire with the senior adviser to the romney campaign. jim merrill, joining us from new hampshire. if i can begin with statistics -- the unemployment rate is 5.7%. president obama won by 9%. abc news says this -- he did not just eke out a win, he dominated. he carried every county in the state, besting mccain by 10 points. given the economy is not as weak as it is in other states, the margin by which he won in 2008, how is the governor responding in the state of new hampshire? guest: first of all, let me make it clear -- mitt romney will win new hampshire. the statistics he cited are

accurate, but these last four years have been difficult not only for the people of new hampshire, but for the nation. we have seen unemployment rise, skyrocketing spending, government programs out of control. what you see today, the voters of this date, what you are correct that the unemployment rate has not been as tough as some of the other parts of the country, there is anxiety here. that is why they're looking at mid romney closely. he has a plan and this president does not. host: look at the registration -- the undeclared make up 40%. how was governor romney trying to appeal to those voters? what does internal polling show of how many of those voters governor romney could get? guest: from day one, when governor romney began campaigning here, we made an effort to seek out independent voters. he has done town halls

throughout the state. we have invited independent voters. they came out in droves. the largest concern is fiscal issues. they're concerned about the state of the economy and the size about debt and deficit. this president has run trillion- dollar deficit each of the four years in office. he has increased our that. these voters are looking at the president's record renounce year record of failure. what we see is that there will be a significant turnout on the election day of voters. we will work diligently to support them. the governor has a record of success, a record of balancing budgets and creating jobs and keeping spending under control. host: we just heard from kathy sullivan, who noted military issues are a big one with the new hampshire.

she made the comment that governor romney wants to add trillions to the pentagon spending. post" person -- two things could tip the balance. the aversion to taxes and debt, and the affection for small government. host it iguest: it is a fair po- i will often correct the record of what kathy said, but i agree that a veteran issues are a key part of our state. new hampshire has one of the highest percentages of veterans in the country per-capita. as well as bae systems, the largest manufacturing employer. when the president talks about military issues, we are looking at devastating cuts to our defense budget, our military, and that have a direct impact on

the shipyard and defense contractors and men and women in the armed forces. the president's attitude toward the navy was telling. governor romney calls for a larger navy. is that its smallest size since 1917. he likened the navy to horses and bayonets. there's a real disconnect. governor romney is strong on this issue, understands the need to care for our veterans. we need to make sure our men and women in the field have everything they need. host: the other dynamic is women's issues -- working for obama is the state's history of being in the forefront of women's issues. they're the first to ratify the core rights amendment. their electorate is fiscally conservative but liberal on social issues. let me show you and our viewers new hampshire commack and ad president obama is running in

the state. [video clip] >> which do you believe, what tv ads say about women, or mitt romney himself? >> to i believe the supreme court should overturn roe v wade? yes. it is my hope they overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood -- we will get rid of that. i will cut off funding to planned parenthood. >> no matter what his ads say, we know what he will do. >> i am barack obama and i approve this message. host: it is from the playbook of diverge, distort, guest: distract it is from the democratic playbook of diverge, distort, distract. mitt romney said they can help working men, women, and families to get jobs where they can care for themselves and others. under this president, we have

not been able to do that. the people in new hampshire are anxious. it is unfortunate that democrats choose this path of-and diversionary attacks, but governor romney would say clearly he is focused on making life better for everybody, getting our economy moving again, getting a government under control and leading to a more prosperous tomorrow. host: what is the ground game in new hampshire? guest: i think we have an extraordinarily strong ground game. the obama campaign really enjoyed spiking the ball, if you will, in spring and early summer. governor romney is still running primaries are around the country -- that reminded people at that time that he had just won a historic primary victory in january and spent a year campaigning for that. we have a very strong core of grassroots leaders from around the state.

they're working hard for mitt romney and the republican team appear. we have nine offices and we have made three times as many phone calls and six times as many doors we have not done at this time in 2012 than we did in 2008. we're undergoing extraordinary voter contact efforts. we made 1 million unique " for contacts with the new hampshire. these are our grass-roots campaigns we run. make no mistake, new hampshire is a small state and grassroots matters. we are believers and calling up friends and neighbors, knocking on doors, asking for votes. host: let's go to dan and michigan -- democratic caller. go ahead. caller: thanks for taking my call. i have a question and comment. my comment to be a think everybody is being very unfair to the way president obama handled libya. that has not beeve